Scotland the Worst: What if TripAdvisor had existed 200 years ago?
A new book by retired Highland policeman Charles Maciejewski (Scotland the Worst: A Derogatory Guide to the Worst Places to Visit in Times Gone By) paints a vivid picture of Scotland in years gone by, pulling no punches in its recollections of what is far from today's world-class tourism destination.
Here’s an example:
Aberfeldy, Perthshire
‘Aberfeldy is a place that might properly be called Aberfilthy, for marvellously foul it is. You enter through a beggarly street and arrive at a dirty inn.’
Southey, R. Journal of a tour in Scotland in 1819, London, 1929.
Through extensive research of historical journals and tourism guides over years of visits across the country, Maciejewski has collected together the ‘best of the worst’ reviews of Scotland from Annan, Dumfriesshire to Yell, Shetland, offering a ‘light hearted and amusing narrative to tourism in Scotland as it was then, compared to the current day.’
Maciejewski says: ‘Whilst today we are spoiled for choice in respect of the information available to budding visitors, the paucity of guide books then meant that great reliance was placed on those few that were available, which created a vision of Scotland and the Scots that, rightly or wrongly, determined the manner in which the country and people were viewed.’
In the hope that modern-day visitors will find the locations – and the manner of the locals – changed for the better, Scotland the Worst is a compendium of some of the less savoury comments made by 17th, 18th and 19th century visitors. The book offers readers tremendous insight and a warm humour, and also reveals the ability of Scots to poke fun at themselves.
To see a page turning digital version of the book, go to https://issuu.com/luathpress/docs/scotland_the_worst_for_issuu
To find out which towns and villages in your area are featured, see map at https://drive.google.com/open?id=1R_sMBF7RC-fZqfnVN19yZLQDtiz_OBis&usp=sharing
The launch event will be held at Waterstones Inverness on Thursday 29 August 2019. Admission is free and all are welcome. For more information, please visit https://www.waterstones.com/events/search/shop/inverness
Notes for Editors:
About the author: CHARLES MACIEJEWSKI was born in East Lothian 65 years ago and has spent most of his life in Scotland on both the east and west coasts. He currently lives on the outskirts of Inverness. He served in the British Army and the Scottish Police Service prior to working in the Middle East for a number of years. He enjoys spending his retirement touring Scotland with his wife and researching the places he visits through old books and journals, an activity which provided the inspiration for this book.
About the Publisher: Established in 1981, Luath Press is a leading independent book publisher based in Edinburgh with over 500 books in print including modern fiction, history, politics, travel/walking guides, football, poetry and much more.